For more than 30 years, new Cobbers have volunteered in the Fargo-Moorhead community during their first week as students.
Hands for Change, 1995
As new Cobbers settle into their home at Concordia each fall, the goal isn’t just to help them find their place on campus but also to introduce them to the wider Fargo-Moorhead community. For more than 30 years, the Orientation team has facilitated this introduction in a unique and special way: Hands for Change.
Since 1993, first-year and transfer students have ventured into the community with their Orientation groups. Each group visits a different local organization and helps them with whatever they might need. They could be spending time with kids, sorting medical supplies, gardening, or picking up trash. Regardless of the assignment, the goal is the same: set the stage for four years of engaged citizenship.
“It is part of Concordia’s mission statement to influence the affairs of the world, to be in solidarity with one another, with our communities, and with our world,” said Sunet Rubalcava, assistant director of the Center for Student Success. “Hands for Change is the first attempt to ask new Cobbers what it means to be an engaged citizen and how they plan to get there.”
Rubalcava serves as advisor to the Orientation planning, but most of the Hands for Change planning falls to the Orientation Chair and committee. As the 2026 Orientation Chair, Sheerah Paintsil ’27 wants to help new Cobbers find community both on campus and off.
“One of the biggest reasons I applied to be the Orientation Chair is because I wanted to help students find their place at Concordia sooner than I did,” she said. “I want to create experiences where students feel welcomed, supported, and excited because I know firsthand how much finding your place can change your college experience.”
Hands for Change is such an important part of the Cobber experience.
“I think Hands for Change is such an important part of the Cobber experience because it connects students with the Fargo-Moorhead community from the very beginning of their college journey,” Paintsil said. “It’s one thing to learn about Concordia, but it’s another to get out into the community and see the people and organizations that make this area so special.”
Paintsil remembers her own Hands for Change experience fondly. Her group volunteered at the Great Plains Food Bank and made packing the food into a competition among themselves. President Colin Irvine, in his first year at Concordia, also joined the students.
“It was cool getting to know him in that setting instead of just seeing him as the college president,” she said.
In recent years, Hands for Change has become more integrated with the First-Year Seminars that students take during their first semester in college. For example, students in a course on book banning went to the Moorhead Public Library for their Hands for Change project.
“We are hopeful that by making these intentional alignments, it can bring richer connections and conversations during their debriefing session at the end of their Hands for Change project,” Rubalcava said. “As an engaged citizen, we would like for students to begin questioning traditional forms of community service and probably start imagining what it means to be in actual solidarity with another community.”
For now, details for the 2026 Hands for Change project during Fall Orientation are being finalized. Paintsil has been contacting organizations, coordinating buses, and organizing schedules.
“I’m really enthused about the possibility of introducing students to both familiar organizations and some new ones they may have never considered volunteering with before,” she said. “I also hope it reminds students that making a difference isn’t always about donating money. Sometimes your time, your willingness to serve, and simply showing up can have just as much of an impact.”
Published August 2026